"What must a person do to be a good Christian? " Randomly ask a hundred Christians this question and their answers will bear much similarity. There are foundational tenets that most believers would contend must mark the lifestyle of Christians in order to be able to legitimately call ourselves good Christians. None would argue that we must do these things to be saved, but that we must do them if we are to be the right kind of follower of Jesus Christ.

Prayer — Few believers would argue that at the very least, we must be faithful in prayer. How often must one pray? The Bible says that we are to "pray without ceasing." Would less than an hour a day qualify as constant prayer? Consider the needs of your family and friends. What about the needs of the world? The needs are great. How much time do you spend praying every day? Don’t you think that we must pray if God is going to move in our circumstances?

Bible Study — Who wouldn’t acknowledge that the Bible is God’s revelation for us? God speaks through His written Word. Is it unreasonable that He should expect that we must spend time every day in the Word? A daily devotional time in God’s Word would seem to be a must for sincere Christians. Do you agree? Are you spending time reading the Bible every day of your life? How much time do you give to the Word of God? Do you hurriedly read a short passage just so you can know you have done your duty or do you sincerely commit yourself to the discipline of ongoing Bible study?

Church Participation — While many have forsaken the church, most Christians would agree that to be a good Christian, one must attend church faithfully. It is commonly recognized that we must come together with God’s people if we are to call ourselves good Christians. Attending church isn’t an option, it’s a must.

We must pray. We must read the Bible. We must attend church. How has what I’ve written struck you thus far? Do you feel edified? Encouraged? Uplifted and motivated to do better? I doubt it. You probably feel beaten down, judged, condemned. That’s how I meant for you to feel. I have intentionally used the word must fifteen times in order to show the effect of living by the law. The Law demands that we must perform certain requirements to be acceptable to God. Whenever we evaluate ourselves by the law, we will always feel condemned. The role of the law is to minister death and condemnation. (See 2 Corinthians 3;6b-9) The law judges us for failing in our duties. Grace, on the other hand, gives birth to a desire to behave in a way that honors Christ.

There is certainly nothing wrong with prayer, Bible study or church participation. In fact, these things are the normal way of life for the believer who is trusting Christ. They are each a gift from God to us — a gift from Him to us. However, the enemy has turned things around and caused many Christians to think that these actions are our gift to Him. Consequently we have taken what God intended to be a real pleasure and, by our legalistic perspective, have turned it into a religious performance.

Once these grace gifts have been baptized into the stagnant waters of dead religion, they lose all life. They no longer have legitimate meaning, neither to the believer nor God. They have become dead works. Bible study no longer is a joy; it’s a job. Prayer no longer is a dialogue with our Heavenly Father; it has become a devotional. Church attendance becomes nothing more than a weary responsibility when God intended for it to be a time when He and His bride make love to each other through the medium of worship.

Do you believe that you must pray? That you must study your Bible? That you must attend church? That is the perspective of a bonafide legalist — one who tries to gain God’s blessings or advance spiritually by what He does. Must has nothing to do with it. The gospel offers the good news that Christians don’t have to do anything to be acceptable to God. Nothing. Christ has already done everything to cause God to accept us completely.

We don’t have to commit ourselves to the disciplines of religion. Jesus didn’t come to help us be religious. Far from it — He came to deliver us from religion. He came to bring us into a relationship with God through Himself. Those who were most offended by Jesus were the religionists of His day. He didn’t live up to what they thought He ought to be. He just wasn’t a good churchman, by their standards. To them, Jesus had no convictions. He appeared to compromise the purity and integrity of their values by doing things like healing people on the Sabbath, by eating with the crooks (Publicans) and party-animals (sinners) of His day. Jesus was a friend of the hookers and homeless. He didn’t separate Himself far enough from the riffraff, as every good churchman knew one should do. Consequently, He lost His testimony with the Pharisees, an incidental matter which didn’t seem to bother Him at all. Jesus cared more about relationships than reputation. He still does.

Are you living under the burden of must? There’s good news — you don’t have to anymore. Jesus has set us free from the curse of the law. Part of that curse is that you can never satisfy the law’s demands, regardless of how much you do and how well you do it. When is enough, enough? Even if we begin to live up to the list of duties which we see ourselves failing now, the law will simply present a new list to us. You can never become a good Christian by what you do.

The truth is that we are already good Christians, and it’s not because of what we do or don’t do. It’s because of Jesus who lives inside us. He is our goodness. Do you want to be a good Christian? Then, for goodness sake, stop trying to be so religious. It nauseates God, and probably doesn’t make the people around you feel too good either. Don’t worry about being religious. Just be yourself. Let Jesus be Jesus in you and through you.

We must? No, we’ve been set free from the misery of "musts." Christ is our very Life. When one comes to know and believe that fact, the only question left to answer is: What do you want to do? Don’t be afraid to let go of "must" and move into "trust." Let Jesus live through you. He won’t be passive or lazy. He will activate you to do what He wants to do through you. It won’t be laws, but love that motivates you. Forget rules; it’s all about relationship. Nothing else can ever motivate us to consistency, but love never fails.